Here is some useful pre -race info ahead of 2009 Malysian Grand Prix. This is how the starting grid will look following the 5 places penalty to Rubens Barrichello (gear box change) and 10 places penalty to Sebastian Vettel (carried from Australia). Numbers in brackets indicate starting weights, those marked with * are declared weights (cars eliminated in Q1 and Q2):

The minimum weight of the car + driver is 605 kg so the rest is fuel. Each car probably has a bit different fuel consumption (estimates per lap in Sepang are around 2.7 kg per lap). But it is safe to assume that the 3.5 kg extra fuel means Button will pit a lap later than Trulli. It is interesting that both Toyota drivers are on the same fuel level. Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg carry almost the same level as both Toyota’s too.

Sebastian Vettel is on an aggressive stragey, hoping to gain some ground early on in his lighter car. His problem may be the two KERS McLarens around him.

So, we can expect Sebastian Vettel to pit first, then about 3 laps later both Toyotas (although one have will have to come a lap earlier), Rosberg, Webber. One lap later would be Button’s time to come in, followed by Kubica, Raikkonen and Barrichello on the next lap.

Fernando Alonso is rather heavily fueled, perhaps also as a result of his limited running in Q3. He will be on a long first stint, about 10 laps longer than Sebastian Vettel. The most heavily fueled cars are Massa’s Ferrari and both McLaren with about 3 more laps worth of fuel on board than Alonso.

If it rains, all willl be different.

All the teams except Toro Rosso and McLaren chose to start Malaysian GP with new engines. Here is the overview of all the engines (number denotes which engines out of the 8 engines per season limit are the drivers using):

2009 Formula 1 Engine Statistics

AU

MA

CN

BA

SP

MO

TU

GB

GE

HU

EU

BE

IT

SI

JP

BR

AD

LH

1

1

2

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

7

7

7

8

8

HK

1

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

7

7

7

8

8

FM/GF

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

4

5

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

KR

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

RK

1

2

3

3

4

4

4

5,6

6

6

6

6

7

8

8

8

8

NH

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

5

6

7

8,9

9

9

9

FA

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

7

8

8

NP/RG

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

7

8

8

JT

1

2

2

3

4

4

5

5

5

5

6

7

7

7

8

8

8

TG/KK

1

2

2

3

4

4

5

5

5

5

6

7

7

7

8

8

8

SB/JA

1

1(2)

2

2

3

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

SBu

1

1(2)

2

2

3

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

MW

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

5

5

5

5

6,7

7

7

8

8

8

SV

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

5

5

5

6

7

8

8

8

8

8

NR

1

2

2

3

4

4

4

5

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

8

KN

1

2

2

2

3

3

4

5

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

8

GF/LI

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

7

7

8

AS

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

7

8

8

JB

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

7

8

8

RB

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

5

5

5

6

7

7

7

8

8

All drivers will be using the same gearbox as in Australia excpet Rubens Barrichello who changed his (and got penalized for that). Here is the overview of the gearboxes use: